J.J. Abrams Explains What Kylo Ren Was Thinking in That Shocking 'Force Awakens' Scene

By now, everyone knows that the biggest — and most stunning — moment in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the death of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, who’s murdered in cold blood by his own son, First Order commander Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). That fateful event takes place after Han tries to persuade his son to turn his back on the Dark Side and re-embrace his family, and though it’s ultimately an unsuccessful attempt, director J.J. Abrams now says that Han’s coaxing almost did the trick.

In an exclusive new commentary video featured at USA Today (taken from the movie’s upcoming 3D collector’s edition Blu-ray), Abrams says that, far from merely toying with Han, Kylo Ren (a.k.a. Ben Solo) is actually on the verge of embracing his long-absent father and rejecting the evil Supreme Leader Snoke during their meeting on the bridge late in the film.

“The truth is, I think that Kylo Ren, in this moment, is actually being convinced to walk away from this. Snoke is, as Han says, using him. And I think that somewhere, Ben knows this. But I think that he can’t accept it, deep down. He has gone too far.”

As Abrams also notes, the sight of two Star Wars characters facing off on a railing-less walkway is always a sign of imminent doom. The Han-Kylo scene remains the emotional crux of The Force Awakens, thanks in large part to what Abrams describes as “the raw uncertainty of what was going to happen.” You can hear Abrams’s full thoughts over at USA Today, and hear his entire chat on the 3D collector’s edition Blu-ray of The Force Awakens, which debuts in the U.S. on Nov. 15.

Watch our video from last year of the ‘Force Awakens’ cast recreating their reactions while seeing the movie for the first time: